Never knowingly under-hyped, Tesla chief Elon Musk has come up with a new publicity stunt: he's sending an original Noughties Tesla Roadster into space. It's as part of his SpaceX mission to Mars, and the early electric sports car will form part of the ballast on board the rocket.
Khodrocar - The Falcon Heavy rocket is preparing for launch in January 2018 and Musk said he thought it fitting that one of his pioneering EVs was sent into orbit.
'Test flights usually contain mass simulators in the form of concrete or steel blocks,' he said. 'That seemed extremely boring... so we decided to send something unusual.
'I love the thought of a car drifting through space and perhaps being discovered by an alien race millions of years in the future.'
David Bowie on the Tesla's stereo in space
The Tesla Roadster will be playing David Bowie's Space Oddity on the stereo, Musk added. The unmanned Falcon Heavy rocket is on the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida (above), undergoing final tests before blast-off early in the new year. It'll use the same launchpad as the Saturn V Apollo 11 moon rocket.
It's all part of SpaceX's dream to fly people and cargo to the moon and - eventually - Mars.
Source: Car Magazine
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